Jack Viertel’s latest musical, “Let the Good Times Roll: A New Orleans Gumbo,” is headed to Broadway. Conceived and written by Viertel, “Let the Good Times Roll” will open on the Main Stem during the 2026-2027 season. Directed and choreographed by Sara Edwards, “Let the Good Times Roll” features music supervision, arrangements and orchestrations by Sonny Paladino. Michael P. Kruke and Ram Narasimhan will produce the Broadway transfer.
Set in New Orleans, “Let the Good Times Roll” follows a young woman’s journey in rediscovering life. The original story is set to a soundscape of songs associated with the Big Easy.
The news of the planned Broadway bow comes on the heels of the musical’s extended world premiere bow at Phoenix Theater Company, which closed on Sept. 7. That engagement marked the theater’s highest grossing and best attended premiere to date.
“It was hugely satisfying to be given the opportunity to do this world premiere with the great folks at the Phoenix Theater, and with Sara and Sonny,” Viertel said in a statement. “The results were beyond anything I could have imagined. We set out to create a joy machine, a human story and a piece where New Orleans itself would become a principal character. But the amount of joy the audience took from it every night was no doubt the best part of all. I’m excited and thrilled that we are moving on to New York and look forward to getting back in a rehearsal room full of wonderful people.”
While Viertel has conceived other Broadway musicals with preexisting song catalogs (to Tony Award-nominated success, as was the case with 1995’s “Smokey Joe’s Café” and 2013’s “After Midnight”), “Let the Good Times Roll” will differ in that it is rooted in the unique nature of a specific city.
As Viertel previously told Broadway News, “New Orleans is a place where so many cultures — Indigenous, African, Spanish, French Caribbean and more — have crossed paths and blended their traditions while also retaining a great deal of their identity. The result is music that, for the most part, you don’t hear anywhere else — at least not played in the streets, in bars, on the way to funerals and, of course, at Mardi Gras.”
Viertel is also known for his former tenures as executive vice president of Jujamcyn Theatres and artistic director of City Center Encores! Beyond penning musicals, Viertel has published several books, including the nonfiction “The Secret Life of the American Musical” in 2016, and, in September 2025, “The Glass Eel,” a novel jointly written with Viertel’s son, Josh Viertel.
Paladino’s Broadway credits include various music supervisor, music director, orchestrator and arranger positions, on “A Beautiful Noise,” “POTUS,” “Gettin’ the Band Back Together,” “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812,” “Pippin” and “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
“Let the Good Times Roll” will mark the first Broadway director and choreographer credit for Edwards, who served as associate director on the aforementioned “After Midnight” and associate director and associate choreographer on “Harmony.” Edwards’ additional associate choreographer credits include Main Stem revivals of “Pirates! The Penzance Musical,” “The Music Man” and “Hello, Dolly!”
As previously reported, Joy Machine Records released a concept album for the show in August. Produced by Paladino, the album features performances by Tony winners J. Harrison Ghee and Lauren Pattn, as well as John Edwards, Jonny Rosch, Rashidra Scott and Alysha Umphress, as well the Grammy Award-winning Rebirth Brass Band.
A production timeline, theater, additional members of the creative team and casting for the Broadway mounting of “Let the Good Times Roll” will be announced.
